Tommy Taylor
PBPA Chairman
With this issue, we welcome the official start of summer, though for many of us, that begins when the kids get out of school. Perhaps some of you are packing to travel to a cooler climate or to enjoy these sunny days stretched out on a beach. Whether home or away, this month we all celebrate our nation’s independence.
In thinking of this month’s message to our members, I cannot help but share my appreciation for what is so very unique about celebrating Independence Day, a holiday that brings us all together to recognize the greatness of our nation. It is unique because it is an occasion that does not distinguish between religions or political affiliation. It does not celebrate an individual person or an individual state. Instead, it is a holiday that celebrates all of us. It is a time for us to gather as Americans to celebrate our unity—50 individual states united as one nation under one flag.
Independence Day brings us all shoulder to shoulder as Americans. We stand together to watch fireworks and celebrate what we all have in common—a love of country. Red, white, and blue is in our DNA.
Coming together in unity is what makes our country great and is one of the many principles upon which our Founding Fathers first established our great nation. Unity and independence is what they declared when they drafted the Declaration of Independence. The pursuit of freedom and a desire to be self-reliant was only achievable through unity. It is what brought 13 very distinct colonies together to form a union of states that pushed back against the tyranny of a foreign king.
I see our own organization operating under those same principles. The PBPA values and promotes unity among our members and recognizes the importance of being self-sufficient. There are recognizable parallels between the ideals of those first colonists and our own members. After all, it is because of our own unity and our hard work in the Permian Basin that our nation has achieved net energy independence. We work shoulder to shoulder in the oilfields, and we work hard to ensure that our country is energy independent so as to not be beholden to foreign oil.
So, this Independence Day, please join me in celebrating our unity and those principles passed down to us by our Founding Fathers. As Americans, let’s celebrate the red, white, and blue in our DNA, and as the PBPA, let’s also celebrate the oil that runs through our veins. Happy Independence Day!